Saladin 7 Adventures

Day 8 on our 2017 trip was a very long day.  We started that morning in Gillette, Wyoming and headed north to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (check out that post here ).  By 2:00 we were back on the road with hotel reservations in Cody for the night.  But we had plans to go by way of the Beartooth Highway and still had upwards of 5 hours of driving time. The drive to Red Lodge was about 2 hours and most of the kids were able to catch a nap.  We arrived in Red Lodge with a need to stretch the legs and eat some dinner.  The Red Box Car  is a great little roadside diner right on Hwy 212 and just before the gateway to Beartooth Pass.  We filled up on delicious burgers, fries, and shakes and were able to sit on a beautiful deck next to a very rushing Rock Creek.  After a quick bathroom break, we were ready to ascend into the Beartooth Mountains. I'd read multiple books and online postings about Beartooth Pass and we were ...

Day 8 on our 2017 out west vacation was one of our longest days on the trip with over 7 hours of driving but with some amazing memories.  I've broken this day into to two posts.  Our first planned stop that day: The Little Bighorn Battlefield and National Cemetery. BUT....  thanks to reading through my favorite resource - Moon Yellowstone/Grand Teton Guidebook  , I had discovered something that by pure coincidence would be a memory our family would never forget.  The Battle of Little Bighorn (Custer's Last Stand) occurred on June 25th, 1876, and every year on the weekend nearest that date, the Real Bird family hosts the Battle of the Little Bighorn Reenactment .  The cost is very reasonable ($20 per car) and the history and entertainment value is tremendous.  There are bleachers for spectators to sit in and a narrator reads the story of the events leading up to the battle.  Actors posing as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Two Moons, and General Cu...

After spending four nights in the Black Hills, headed toward Yellowstone by heading north out of Custer to Deadwood then onto the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway before stopping in Gillette, WY for the night.  On Hwy 385 we had an unexpected stop as the beauty of the Pactola Reservoir Complex caught our eye.  There is also a National Park Forest Service building just of the road and the kids were able to get stamps for their Passport books here from the Black Hills National Forest. We made it to Deadwood and had time to go to the Mt. Moriah Cemetery before lunch.  The legendary cowboy "Wild Bill" Hickok is buried here along with his sidekick "Calamity Jane" among other famous Black Hills gold diggers.  Wild Bill was shot in the back playing poker and it's said that the hand he was holding was two pairs - Aces and Eights - which now is known as "Dead Man's Hand."    There are quite a few other museums in Deadwood that sounded aweso...

The Black Hills area has a lot to offer and we tried to include as much as we possibly could during our 4 night stay.  Unfortunately, we couldn't squeeze in a cave tour at Jewel Cave National Monument but did get to check out the visitor center and see some pictures.  We did explore  Wind Cave National Park  and would highly recommend it! Wind Cave has multiple cave tours - but also lots of above ground sight seeing too!  We saw a few bison while we were there and some prairie dogs too!  There is also a really nice picnic area by the parking lot to relax and have lunch or a snack. Since we had small children, we chose the  Natural Entrance Tour  which is described as moderate and family friendly.   There are about 300 steps (mostly down) and it was very family friendly.  You return to the surface level by elevator - so don't worry about having to climb back up all of those stairs! We brought along jackets as the temperatu...